Jake Norton: Lost on Everest – The Enduring Mystery of Mallory & Irvine

Name: Jake Norton: Lost on Everest – The Enduring Mystery of Mallory & Irvine
Start: 2025-10-15T19:30:00-06:00
Location: Chautauqua Community House

Schedule

Wed, 15 Oct, 2025 at 07:30 pm

UTC-06:00

Location

Chautauqua Community House | Boulder, CO

Door time: 7:00
Show time: 7:30
Presented By Backpacker's Pantry
On June 8, 1924, at 12:50 PM, two tiny figures were seen by climber Noel Odell less than 1,000 feet below the summit of Mount Everest. It was George Mallory and Andrew Irvine closing in on the top, hoping to be the first to reach that highest point of all. But then, “the whole fascinating vision vanished, enveloped in cloud…” Mallory and Irvine were never seen alive again.
Their disappearance sparked a century-long mystery: Did Mallory and Irvine reach the summit in 1924, some 29 years before Hillary and Tenzing climbed Everest from the Nepal side?
In the 101 years since, numerous discoveries have been high on the mountain. On May 1, 1999, Jake Norton was a climber and photographer with the team that found Mallory’s remains at nearly 27,000 feet on the North Face. That discovery made headlines and history, but failed to resolve the mystery. Jake has returned three additional times (2001, 2004, and 2019) specifically to find answers and, while he’s discovered much, the mystery remains. And, amazingly, in 2024, a National Geographic team stumbled upon the foot of Andrew Irvine in the Central Rongbuk Glacier, roughly 8,000 feet below where Mallory was found 25 years prior.
But, yes again, the mystery remains: Did Mallory and Irvine reach the summit before they died?
In this presentation, Jake Norton – who has spent more time than most off route, scrambling around above 8000m on Everest looking for answers – will take you through the story of Mallory and Irvine, their climb, their disappearance, and what may have happened to the duo over a century ago, while also pondering whether the perennial question – Did they summit? – is even the right one to be asking in the first place.